We held our first event of the term at the University this evening. Initially, it was meant to be a night with our local MP, Ben Bradshaw, but suddenly he was required in London on departmental business. We weren’t too disappointed, though, because we got Cllr. Roy Slack, the Leader of the City Council, and Cllr. Connel Boyle, one of Labour’s three representatives in the neighbouring Exwick ward, to come and talk about the students’ concerns.
One of the key issues that has recently been exercising students, especially on our smaller campuses, is an email that has been sent out by Steve Smith asking for the views of students and staff on the future of St. Luke’s. The very fact that our Vice-Chancellor is consultating with the students at all is progress and testamount to the hard work of students like Alain Desmier, who led the protests when the University decided to scale back the teaching in Music, Chemistry and Italian without so much as a word of warning.
Still, it was pleasing to hear both Councillors, despite being constrained by what they could say given their roles within the University, speaking about their determination to ensure that we get the best deal for the students. The current Guild Executive have launched an excellent campaign – Save St. Lukes – and
